Joy Scrogum

Joy joined EnergySense in June 2026 as the Sustainability Education Program Manager. She has 25+ years’ experience working on sustainability and natural resources stewardship, and a lifelong passion for environmental protection. She enjoys helping individuals and organizations understand how sustainability relates to their lifestyles, disciplines, and operations, and then feel empowered to make positive change.

For the bulk of her career, she worked at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), one of the five IL state scientific surveys. At ISTC, she initially focused on facilitating networking and information sharing among pollution prevention (P2) technical assistance providers in the US and Canada as part of the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR). She integrated P2 and sustainability into K-12 school buildings and curricula through projects such as Greening Schools (a collaboration with the IL Environmental Protection Agency) and the Green Lunchroom Challenge (a US EPA-funded voluntary pledge program focused on food waste prevention and reduction). Joy was also involved in a variety of projects related to sustainable electronics, including coordination of the International Sustainable Electronics Design Competition (a global design challenge for college students) and the Illini Gadget Garage (a campus “do-it-together” repair center for personally-owned electronics and small electrical devices). She has participated in waste characterization studies for entities such as universities, manufacturing facilities, units of local government, health care facilities, schools, and offices, formulating recommendations for waste prevention and more sustainable materials management based on waste generation and recycling data. She has contributed to sustainability and climate resiliency plans, and a variety of outreach materials such as fact sheets, case studies, websites, blogs, social media, and newsletters. Joy has also taught university and continuing education courses on sustainability issues.

Joy is certified as a Sustainability Excellence Professional and LEED Green Associate and has completed Illinois Extension’s Climate Stewards training focused on climate change communication and local solutions. She has served on a variety of state, regional, and national committees related to sustainability and waste management. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Champaign County Environmental Stewards and is actively involved in the Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition and the Wasted Food Action Alliance. In 2022, the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable named her the Fred Granek Memorial P2 Ambassador, as part of its Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) awards.

In her spare time, Joy enjoys reading, gardening, writing, and spending time with her young adult children and cat.